


Concession

by GloriaGilbertPatch



Series: Skirt Suits [3]
Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-27 23:56:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6305452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloriaGilbertPatch/pseuds/GloriaGilbertPatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>2x16 (and a little of 3x01) from Scottie's perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Concession

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, I make no claims to Suits or any of its characters, and all real individuals, firms, and institutions are referenced fictitiously.

The party Edward and Jessica threw to celebrate their joint victory/impending merger was not the most ridiculous event Dana had ever attended, but it came pretty close. She chose to think of it as a black-tie reception for the, “wedding,” of two firms, but that was only because the alternatives were all worse. A pair of associates had been giggling about their, “prom dresses,” in the ladies’ room, and God, first-years got younger every year.

Not that she couldn’t still wear an evening gown better than any of them, of course.

Actually, the party itself hadn’t been half-bad, once she’d had a few drinks and gotten over the fact that it was a bit over-the-top to have a firm-wide semi-formal event for a poorly defined reason. Pearson Hardman’s dual insistence on being a large firm and hiring only from Harvard meant that it was a great place to catch up with law school classmates, and chatting pleasantly with some of her old friends was a pretty decent way to distract herself from the fact that Harvey wasn’t speaking to her.

At least, it had been until halfway through the evening – and halfway through looking at cell phone pictures of Amy Rendleman’s kids – when Harvey had decided, in his infinite wisdom, to present Edward with three lawsuits on behalf of three clients who had Darby & Cooke on retainer, as well as the proofs of service on the companies themselves.

While wearing a tux. While drinking champagne. While at a _party_.

It didn’t actually ruin the evening, despite the fact that Harvey had meant it to, except for a handful of people, but it _was_ enough for her to wish the earth would swallow her whole, because she’d tried so hard to sell Edward on both Pearson Hardman and Harvey Specter, and it had finally worked, and now here he was, spitting in her face and making her look like an idiot for ever having suggested the whole thing. Of course he would handle it like this, because Harvey Specter was a forty-year-old _child_. Dana shook her head slightly and turned back to Amy with a smile, gesturing out of the corner of her eye for Nigel Nesbitt to grab her a drink and grinning when she saw him immediately walk over to the bar. The man might spend exorbitant amounts of money to lie in bathtubs full of mud, and he might have the creepy ability to make a few clicks on a pivot table only for it to display exactly how many people each partner at the firm had slept with in any given period of time, but he had somehow always hero-worshipped her, and she took her victories where she could find them.

She’d deal with Harvey tomorrow.

\--

The next morning found her leaning against the black Lexus she was pretty sure was Ray’s outside Harvey’s building, waiting, lost in thought, but not lost enough not to notice when Harvey strode out of the building. He slowed as he approached her, and she turned to meet his gaze, smirking slightly so he wouldn’t think he’d gotten the better of her.

“Get in the car,” she said softly.

“I prefer to walk.”

Dana rolled her eyes.

“Since when?”

“Doctor recommended it. Helps me work out the kinks since I got stabbed in the back.”

“You?” she exclaimed, furious, coming away from the car to follow him as he walked away. “Last night was a personal attack on _me_!”

“Oh, that’s funny, because Jessica seemed to think it was a personal attack on her, yet both of you knew about the merger and chose not to tell me. You should get lunch – seems like you have a lot in common.”

Of course he was angry about being behind on the _gossip_.

“Harvey…Harvey,” she said gently, tugging on his arm so he’d turn around to look at her. “Can you stop being so defensive for one second?”

“You put me on the defensive,” he replied, still angry. “And I’m not just gonna stand here and listen to you because I went on the attack.” He turned to go, but she just _couldn’t_ let that happen.

“ _Harvey_.”

“No, don’t, ‘Harvey,’ me, okay? You made your bed, and now you’re gonna sleep in it. _Alone_.”

She shook her head, still not entirely sure why he was being so petulant about the whole thing.

“What did I do that was so terrible?”

“For the past nine months, I have been fending off attacks from Daniel Hardman, Allison Holt, and Robert Zane. I told you before. You want to get your name on the door, get it at your own God damned firm.”

“Okay. Fine,” she said, a little angry herself now. “If it’s not personal, you’re not going to hold it against me when we _beat_ you.”

“Oh-and-everything, Scottie,” he said with a joyless smile. “That’s your record against me, oh-and-everything. I won’t have to hold anything against you because there won’t be anything to hold.” He turned around, and this time she was almost okay letting him walk away.

Because, really, screw him. Nothing about the proposed merger was an _attack_ , let alone an attack on Harvey. It was just _business_ , and if anyone could understand that, it should be Harvey, a man who’d dispassionately advised on more mergers than anyone needed to think about.

And yes, ideally, she wanted to work with him, but how the hell _that_ could be construed as an attack, Dana would never know. She knew perfectly well that Harvey had taken cases and transactions in the past because she was on the other side, and after all, hadn’t they just proven that they could work well together? That they _still_ made a good team, even in the real world, with real clients to represent and (thankfully) associates to handle the case law and bluebooking? It was frustrating, and it hurt, and it made no sense, and now she was going to make sure that Edward destroyed him.

Ambushing Harvey had been a bust, but Dana was waiting for Edward when he arrived at the visiting office that had been set up for him, and his face brightened when he saw her.

“Ah, Dana, good morning. Tell me, were you able to convince Mr. Specter to drop the lawsuits?”

Dana rolled her eyes.

“Convince Harvey to do something when he’s feeling pissy? Sorry, Edward. I tried. But I told you what he’s like – once he’s got his mind wrapped around something, it’s almost impossible to get him to see reason.” She shook her head. “I should’ve given him more time to cool down. I just…God, he’s frustrating.”

Edward chuckled.

“You look exactly the way my sister used to when my brother-in-law got up to his usual tricks.”

“Don’t, Edward. I just – I can’t, right now, okay?”

“Well, you’re going to have to,” he said, more firmly than usually. “Look, Dana, I understand that your feelings for this man are complicated. I was trying to make a light joke of it. But these are our clients he has maliciously attacked, out of anger with us, and it is our duty to defend them as we can.”

“I know that.”

“Then I advise you to assist me in coming up with something, because we simply cannot allow this to go on too long.”

“You’re saying the complaints are true?”

“I am saying nothing of the kind. They may be; they may not be. Certainly most, if not all, organizations have skirted ethical guidelines…or laws…in the past, and that might be the case in this instance. But these lawsuits cannot be allowed to go even that far, not now that Jessica, Harvey, and I have agreed to postpone the merger of our firms until the conclusion of these suits. We need to win, quickly and decisively, and I am going to require a great deal of help from you.”

“And you’ll have it,” she replied immediately, “although I don’t quite get why you need it. I’m not quite cocky enough to think I’m a better lawyer than you are.”

“I certainly never meant to imply that you were,” Edward retorted. “I do, however, have some pressing business matters to attend to on the West Coast, and therefore you are going to be handling much of this case as my number-two.”

“The West Coast?”

“California, specifically. Hedging my bets in case Pearson Hardman turns out to be a poor choice.”

“It _won’t_ ,” Dana said firmly.

“Even so, one doesn’t puts all of one’s eggs in a single basket until one _owns_ the basket.”

“Why are you even worrying, though? Just have what’s-his-face call his cousin and freeze Harvey’s plaintiffs’ liquid assets.”

“I hardly think he’s of use outside of the UK, Dana…”

“Please, Edward, are you that naive? Has it been _that_ long since the Libor scandal? He’s of use.” She grinned. “Especially since I’m almost positive that at least one of the plaintiffs banks at the U.S. subsidiary.”

Edward shook his head.

“Your memory and eye for detail are astonishing.”

“No more than they have to be,” Dana said with a shrug. “If you want astonishing, though, you need to worry about Harvey’s associate. He’s smarter than he should be and has a photographic memory on top of it.”

“So he’ll call us out on the funding. Well, then. Better give notice.”

She grinned.

“Wait. You should call what’s-his-face first.”

“Why don’t you take care of that, Dana? Make sure we catch him before the close of business back home, and meanwhile I’ll start the clock on the notice grace period.”

“All right,” she agreed. “May I use this office?”

“Of course you may. Were you not assigned a ‘visiting’ office of your own?”

Dana bit her lip.

“Harvey let me work out of his, but…you’re right; I’ll ask Jessica once I’ve taken care of the accounts.”

Once Edward had left, she quickly made the call and enjoyed the brief proud whoosh she always felt in her stomach after solidifying a client relationship. Then she spoke to Jessica and was moved to an office of her own, where she settled in, doing something she hadn’t done in almost longer than she could remember and drafting her own motions to dismiss. She probably could have found someone to help, but the contest was between Edward and Harvey, with Dana – and presumably Mike – serving as their respective number-twos, and it wouldn’t have felt fair.

And that was all not mentioning the fact that she didn’t know the Pearson Hardman associates nearly well enough to trust any of them even with filing her notice of appearance, not on a case against Harvey. Besides, there was something soothing, regardless, about writing her own motion, something that brought her back, a little, to her younger days, when she actually had had to start with a blank page. It was nice, sometimes, to remember where she’d started – and, of course, to admire how far she’d come, when the thing was finished and she read it back to admire its flawlessness.

Just when she was about to venture to thirty-five for a paralegal (because she might enjoy drafting her own motion, but she’d ice skate in hell before she tabbed her own exhibits), there was a knock at the door. Ridiculously, irrationally, she assumed it was Harvey, and her heart sped up a little.

“Come in,” she said calmly.

It wasn’t Harvey. It was Jessica Pearson.

“Jessica, hello,” she said, mildly uncomfortable. “I, um, I was just…”

“…working on Edward’s case against Harvey?” Jessica finished, smiling easily. Dana nodded.

“Motions to dismiss, finished and ready to print. I was hoping I could borrow one of your paralegals to tab out the exhibits and blueback and e-file – ”

Jessica cut her off with a gentle raise of her hand and another easy smile.

“That won’t be necessary,” she said evenly, before chuckling. “Well. It _will_ be necessary, but it won’t be _your_ responsibility. I’m taking over for you. I’ll meet with Mike Ross in the morning, myself.”

“You will,” Dana said flatly.

“Yes. I will.” Her tone left no room for discussion, and Dana wavered uncertainly as she looked from the document on her screen to the imposing woman in front of her.

“Would you like the motions?” she asked finally, still a bit intimidated – it was ridiculous; it had been years since Dana had been intimidated – but then it had been years since she had a new boss.

“I would,” Jessica agreed, “but don’t save them to the general server.”

“I can’t anyway,” Dana responded promptly. “The desktop isn’t connected to your server; I can only save locally, and my laptop is connected to the Darby server. Absolutely no danger of breaking the Chinese wall, don’t worry.” She rummaged in her pocket. “Here’s a flash drive.” She stuck the drive into the computer’s USB port and quickly saved all three motions before ejecting and handing it to Jessica.

“You can go home now, Scottie,” she said, ever explicit in her dismissal.

“Are you sure? You don’t want me to go over them with you first, in case you have any concerns? I know you can’t have access to our servers yet…”

Jessica shook her head.

“You’re an excellent attorney. And you don’t even have to be, in this case. Harvey has nothing, and I’m going to tell Mike exactly that in the morning. Go home, get some sleep, do whatever you want to do, but this case is mine now.”

Dana nodded.

“All right,” she said softly, shutting down her laptop and packing her things. Just as she was about to leave the office, though, Jessica laid a hand on her elbow to stop her.

“Yes?”

“Don’t even think about telling Harvey I’m taking your place.”

“Well, he’s not speaking to me at the moment,” Dana sighed, “so, honestly, I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”

“As long as you don’t warn him, I’d just as soon the two of you be on speaking terms,” Jessica replied, raising her eyebrows. Dana sighed.

“I’ll try to talk to him. Maybe…maybe he’s had a chance to cool down?”

They both chuckled humorlessly.

“Anyway. Good night, Jessica.”

She went back to her hotel and settled in for a mostly sleepless night.

\--

The next morning she came in early, breezing past the conference room where she had planned to meet Mike and walking straight to Harvey’s office. Donna raised her eyebrows but waved her in (and why Harvey never locked his door at night, Dana would seriously never know).

She settled on Harvey’s couch, legs crossed, arm draped over the side, projecting a confidence she didn’t feel, and waited.

“Aren’t you supposed to be announced?” Harvey asked as he strode in.

“I don’t play by those rules,” she retorted – honestly, it was as if Harvey forgot sometimes that she was exactly as much of an American as he was.

“Hmm, somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” he said, coming closer. “What are you doing here?”

He didn’t sit, and she didn’t stand, just looked steadily up at him without the slightest bit of intimidation. He would always be taller than she was, after all, and if he wanted to think it was an advantage, he could. There was still no way he was going to win.

“I just came to tell you that Edward’s in another league. You’re going to lose,” she said.

“Well there’s only one problem. Words are coming out of your mouth, which means the real story isn’t.”

“Okay, you want the real story? Your clients are running out of funds. You have a window.”

“To do what?”

“Harvey,” Dana said urgently, finally rising to her feet. “We still have to work together after this. I am giving you a way out. We can still both be name partners.” She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this close to him without kissing.

“No, we can’t. I made a deal with Jessica. I win, you’re out. I give up, you’re going to be name partner all by yourself.” He pulled away, moving back towards his desk, and she stood there, dumbfounded, before following him.

“That’s not what I want. Harvey, don’t you get it – ”

“Wait a second,” he said suddenly. “If you’re here, who the hell’s in with Mike?”

The appearance of a stone-faced Jessica Pearson saved Dana from having to answer.

“Get out,” Jessica said, looking at Dana. She gaped for a moment, turned back to Harvey, silently pleading, and left the office.

She managed, somehow, to make it to the ladies’ room without completely collapsing, but once she was there she let herself into a stall, sat down, and bent her face into her hands, by sheer force of will not crying so she wouldn’t ruin her makeup.

How had it gone so far? Dana couldn’t honestly remember a time when she and Harvey hadn’t fought, but he’d never been quite so… _cold_ …to her. And now, just when she wanted him to care about her, to _want_ her most, he suddenly didn’t. It would have been easy to put the whole thing up to last time, the thing with Steve or even the thing with Debeque – though Harvey had never allowed work-related adversarial issues to color their personal relationship – except all that had been true before the merger came out, and he hadn’t seemed to care then. He’d chatted with her, conspired with her, laughed and reminisced with her, and taken her to bed repeatedly. She’d thought –

But he was taking this so much to heart, and she just had no idea –

Donna Paulsen.

There were two people Dana could reasonably count on to know Harvey, at least professionally. While he wasn’t currently happy with Jessica Pearson, from what she could tell he and Donna were as functional as they’d ever been, not the least indicator of which was that Donna seemed pissed at her, too. Dana had always liked Harvey’s secretary, who was hardworking and clever and knew just how much charm and cleavage she could get away with leveraging for her (and Harvey’s) benefit while staying on the right side of professional. But since she’d been in New York she’d noticed a change, and if she wanted the back of Harvey’s mind, she was going to need the back of Donna’s, so she set out in search of the other woman.

She wasn’t in the bathroom, obviously, and as Dana walked past Harvey’s office it was clear that Donna wasn’t at her desk, which meant the next obvious place was the file room, likely wherever the files for the plaintiffs in Harvey and Edward’s lawsuits were stored. Dana didn’t need to get too close to that – if she was going to beat Harvey, she was going to do it _fairly_ , but luckily she didn’t have to. She pushed into the file room, and yes, there was Donna, visible from the doorway, in the shelves and inspecting a bankers box. The other woman looked up at her without a smile.

“The merger hasn’t gone through yet, so technically, you’re not allowed to be lurking around our files,” she announced, removing a couple of folders and pushing the box back into place.

“I’m not _lurking_ ,” Dana correct. “I’m looking for you.”

“And here I am,” Donna replied, looking up from the bankers box on the table near the door, but not stopping in whatever file transfer she was doing.

“I think that you lied to me.”

“I think you’re wrong,” Donna answered immediately.

“You don’t even know what I’m talking about,” Dana protested, shaking her head.

“I know I’m not a liar.”

“You told me you never said a bad thing about me.”

Donna paused for a moment.

“And I never have.”

“But you don’t like me,” Dana insisted, as Donna came back to the table with a few more file folders.

“I don’t like people who lie to Harvey.”

Dana took a deep breath, really not wanting to ask but having desperately to know.

“Are you in love with him, Donna?”

“I am so frickin’ tired of people asking me that, and it is none of your business,” Donna said, pushing a long strand of red hair out of her face. So…yes, then.

“But _no_.” She turned away, heading back to the shelves, before suddenly stopping and turning around.

“And I _did_ like you. Until you walked in here with that bullshit agenda…”

“It’s not bullshit,” Dana insisted, following her into the files.

“Okay,” Donna responded, turning around to face her. “Then what would you call it?”

“Why do you think I came back last time?” Dana asked softly, throwing up her hands. “Why do you think I brought us in on Folsom? I don’t know how to get his attention unless I _sue_ him.”

“You’re in love with him,” said Donna, furrowing her brow, a hint of incredulity creeping into her voice – though whether it was Dana’s feelings that made her incredulous, or the fact that she hadn’t figured it out on her own, Dana couldn’t tell. Dana shrugged, a little sheepish.

“He’s – he’s just so angry at me, and I don’t know how to make him believe it,” she said, trying to smile but pretty sure she wasn’t conveying even a tiny bit of happiness.

“Well, why _would_ he believe you? All you’ve ever done is lie to him,” Donna pointed out, and that wasn’t _entirely_ fair, but…

“This is not…this is not a lie,” she said, shrugging.

“Look, Dana, if you want to break through his anger, you’re going to have to do something.”

She took a deep breath and swallowed, willing the tears to stop pooling in her eyes.

“The merger.”

Donna nodded.

“Walk away.”

“From my name on the door.”

“If you want him to hear you, you’re gonna have to make a sacrifice.”

“So I just…risk everything. With no guarantee,” she said, shaking her head a little, and Donna nodded.

“That’s what sacrifice is,” Donna said, and she walked away.

Dana left quickly thereafter, returning to “her” office, glancing wistfully at the beautiful desktop that would be utterly useless for anything but computer solitaire. She sank into the chair and let out a long sigh before starting up her laptop.

Donna was right. If she wanted Harvey she had to speak Harvey’s language, and that meant with personal loyalty. Only…it was too late to stop the merger legitimately, because at this point, Edward was sold. Even though theoretically the whole thing should have been put to a vote of the equity partners, in reality nobody ever voted against Edward when he truly wanted something.

Which just left Harvey and Edward’s wager.

Dana had seen the complaints, of course, and a quick glance at the clients’ files made it obvious that the allegations were correct. They were fixing prices. It honestly wouldn’t have been much of a concern under ordinary circumstances – the fixed price was barely higher than the natural market price; no one not looking for a fight would even have noticed – but it was anti-competitive, and illegal, and Harvey had no proof, and no time to find proof.

She brought up the September file on her laptop and stared at it for a few moments. Correspondence, provided well under the protection of attorney-client privilege, corroborating Harvey’s complaints. (Or were they Mike Ross’s, actually? Dana had known Harvey a long time, long enough to know that though the signature at the bottom was his, the phrasing and organization were definitely _not_.) Regardless, if she gave the file to Harvey, he would win. The merger wouldn’t go through. She wouldn’t, and probably would never, become a name partner.

But Harvey might trust her again. And he might even let himself love her back. And that…that just might be worth it.

She picked up her desk phone and asked reception to direct her to Donna Paulsen.

“Hello, Visiting Office Two, how may I help you?”

“Hi, Donna, it’s Scottie,” she responded, softly.

“Hi, Scottie,” Donna replied, her voice slightly warmer than earlier.

“Look, I need to talk with Harvey’s associate – with Mike – about something, but it can’t be at the office. Can you get him to meet me in an hour outside that restaurant with the orange trim, ‘Crush,’ I think it’s called?”

“I can certainly pass your message along, but I can’t promise he’ll do it.”

“Donna. It’s important,” Dana sighed. “I promise.” She waited silently and hoped against hope that Donna really was as good at reading people as she always said she was. That she knew Dana was being sincere.

“Okay,” she said finally. “Okay, he’ll be there.”

Dana let out a long breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

“Thank you,” she said, gratefully.

“Don’t make me regret this,” Donna answered, hanging up the phone without waiting for a response. Dana closed her eyes and cradled her own phone, leaning back in her chair for a second before sending the document to the printing room next door and rushing over to make sure it had no chance of being intercepted.

Back in her office, she put it in a blue file folder, stuck it in her handbag, and made her way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee and a granola bar and a way to kill time before she met with Mike and irrevocably put herself on the other side.

\--

She was still early, of course, or maybe Mike was just late, but either way she was alone and waiting for him outside the restaurant. There was no going back from this. She fiddled with her phone, instinctively feeling awkward in a way she hadn’t in a long time – but, then again, she had earned her confidence long ago, and she’d never broken privilege before.

“I got your message,” a man’s voice said, and Dana glanced up from her phone to see Mike Ross striding over towards her. She put her phone away and looked up at him.

“Why are we meeting here?” he asked.

“You sound like you don’t trust me,” she said, not answering him.

“Well, you did sandbag me with Jessica,” he pointed out, as they walked between the two restaurants that for some reason had managed to attract a number of people to eat outside, even with the weather.

“ _Jessica_ sandbagged you with Jessica,” she corrected, but Mike didn’t let up.

“Still doesn’t explain why we’re meeting here.”

She finally turned around to face him. He was a good-looking guy, still a little green around the edges and too wide-eyed for her taste, but he was sharp and bold and she got why he and Harvey worked well together.

“Baby Harvey,” she said calmly, not answering his question.

“That’s a huge compliment,” he said, scoffing.

“Call it like I see it.”

“I meant for him,” he replied, and Dana grinned.

“Like I said. Baby Harvey.”

He cleared his throat, and Dana dropped the chitchat, reaching into her handbag.

“We’re meeting here because you will never find this,” she finally answered, pulling out the file folder and handing it to him. He opened it and started to read before looking up at her in surprise.

“If this checks out, it’ll win the case for us.”

“I know,” Dana said, nodding.

“And why am I the one you’re giving this to?” he asked, thoughtfully.

“Because there are some things in life more important than winning?” she offered, evading his actual question.

“No, that’s not what I asked. Why are you giving it to _me_?” He focused his eyes on hers – and they had all the intensity of Harvey’s, almost magnified by the fact that they were blue instead of brown. Dana smiled.

“When we were in law school,” she began, “Harvey’s brother got sick. He needed money; his father didn’t have any; his mother wasn’t in the picture.”

“Don’t tell me,” Mike broke in. “Harvey found a way to help him out.”

“He used his tuition,” Dana agreed. “Anyway. When his mother found out, she contacted him. Harvey wouldn’t take a nickel from her.”

Mike smiled, closed his eyes, and shook his head. He got it.

“So she gave his brother the money.”

“Who used it to pay him back,” Dana finished.

“I didn’t even know Harvey had a brother,” Mike said with a rueful smile.

“You’d like him,” she said, positive on that one. Mike and Marcus would get along famously. “He’s like you.” She patted him lightly on the elbow, smiling, and turned to leave.

“So are you saying that I have to tell Harvey I found this on my own?” he called after her. Dana shrugged.

“You don’t have to. But it’ll definitely increase your odds of him using it.” He nodded and she walked away, taking a couple of long, deep breaths as soon as she was out of Mike’s line of vision. That was it; she’d thrown in her lot with Harvey now, given him exactly what he needed to get exactly what he wanted.

It would have been nice if, “exactly what he wanted,” didn’t mostly seem to mean, “not having to work with her.”

Because what else could it be? Edward was both an excellent lawyer and an excellent businessman – skills plenty of firms had learned, to their detriment, didn’t necessarily go hand-in-hand. Darby & Cooke had risen to global prominence and had resources far beyond the money it had taken to bankroll the Folsom case – offices throughout the world, talented attorneys and staff in every practice group imaginable, contacts in every industry that might ever be of use to a man who enjoyed the best of everything. Not to _mention_ the money. Maybe she should’ve shown him her partner draw over the last few years; Harvey did more than fine but Dana was fairly certain his earnings still fell short of what she paid in UK taxes alone.

Fucking socialists.

She could, reluctantly, understand why he was angry with her. But the merger itself was a good move, for him and for her.

And yet, here she was, personally killing it, all for him.

She didn’t bother going back but headed straight for her hotel instead. Tomorrow, she’d go in; pack up her things; stop by Harvey’s office and hope he’d softened enough to be ready to hear her.

Or not, as it turned out.

Dana had barely been at the firm long enough to pour herself a cup of coffee when the gossip trickled in; Harvey had lost; Jessica had won; all three lawsuits had been dismissed and the two firms were officially merging.

And Edward was back from California and wanted to see her in Jessica’s office.

She took a deep breath and downed her coffee in one gulp, trying to determine mentally if any of her personal items were still in her borrowed office, before walking to Jessica’s with her head held high.

“Edward,” she said calmly, walking through the door to see him standing in front of Jessica’s desk – Jessica herself relegated to one of the couches; present but not a participant.

“Good morning, Dana,” he said, equally calm. “Would you like a cup of tea? Coffee?”

“No, thanks; I already had some.”

“A croissant, perhaps?” he continued, ever persistent. Dana sighed. Sometimes she really missed working for Americans.

“I’m fine, Edward. All of my physical needs have been met. Just…” She bit her lip and looked down for a moment. “You can just tell me, okay?”

“I have the feeling you already know what I’m about to say.”

“I have a pretty good idea.”

“This _hurts_ me, Dana. I’ve counted on your work practically since you were a girl. I still remember the first time you brought in a client of your own…the first time you helped interview a new associate…the first time you participated in the associate review process. _Raked_ them over the coals if they couldn’t hit 2800 hours, if I remember correctly.”

They smiled at each other for a moment, remembering, before Edward shook his head and continued.

“I don’t want to do this, but really, you leave me no other choice. Even if Harvey was not able to beat me in court this morning, he would never even have had the chance had he not had access to _privileged_ information. And I cannot allow that, not even from you.” He paused, shaking his head, regretfully, once more. “Effective immediately, the partnership is terminating your equity interest in the firm that will now be known as Darby International. I’ll arrange with accounting for your capital contributions to be returned to you in full within the year, unless you have any problems with that.”

Dana shook her head and said nothing.

“In that case…I do wish you well.”

He didn’t offer her his hand, and she didn’t offer him hers; she just stood, opposite him, and nodded, as an overwhelming sense of loss, of sadness, of shame washed over her.

“Thank you, Edward,” she said finally, turning to go. “Jessica,” she added, with a nod, before leaving the office.

She walked slowly to the elevators, turning slightly when she noticed Harvey. He was looking at her, and she looked back. For a moment, he almost – but no. Figures. She never should have tried.

Well, that was the end of that, she thought, getting on the elevator with a long sigh. The doors were about to close when a hand appeared to stop them. Ahh, Harvey Specter, here to rub salt in the wound.

“You could have just told me that you didn’t love me instead of selling me out,” she said softly as he looked down at her.

“I didn’t sell you out, Scottie,” he said sincerely.

“Well, somebody did,” she replied. “Because Darby found out what I gave Mike, and I just got fired.” And she couldn’t even be angry about it, because Edward had only done what anyone would do. What Dana would have done. Even so, Harvey looked at her with compassion that almost hurt.

“It wasn’t me,” he insisted.

“Well…at least there’s that.”

He opened his mouth as if there was something he wanted to say, but she wasn’t going to give him the chance to let her down gently.

“Goodbye, Harvey,” she said, and she pushed the close-doors button.

And that was it. The man she loved – and she wasn’t kidding herself; Donna had obviously told him all of it; he definitely knew – her closest confidante of the past fifteen years, the man she _broke privilege_ for, the man she’d _deservedly_ gotten fired for, and all he could say was, “I didn’t sell you out.”

She would be okay; she would’ve even if Edward hadn’t offered a shortened timeframe for her payout. She could spin her departure as ideological problems with the merger, which was probably even technically correct. He’d back her, if anyone ever asked. He was angry with her, to be sure, but she’d made him tons of money over the past decade, and besides…he knew. He’d known from the start that she was in love with Harvey. And unfortunately for Edward, and for the rights of gay men everywhere, he knew all too well what it was like to take a gamble on his career for the man he loved.

Still, it stung. She’d officially been rejected by two men she’d respected and cared about since her twenties, and all on the same day only made it worse. It was a good night to buy a bottle of wine and take a long soak in her hotel bathtub.

Her phone rang as she walked through the lobby, and she pushed the button without thinking.

“Dana Scott,” she answered, coolly, only to be taken aback at the voice on the other end.

“Yes, hello, Dana,” said Edward.

“Edward,” she said, surprised. “I thought you’d said all you needed to say.”

“I did,” he replied, “and then our friend Mr. Specter came to me and pointed out that you were really the one who pulled this whole merger off, and you don’t deserve to be punished for that.”

“That’s not what you were punishing me for,” she replied, softly. Edward chuckled.

“No, it wasn’t. But, my dear, I might have been too hasty. I know how you feel about him.” He paused. “And for what it’s worth, I think he just might feel the same way about you. Anyway. I’m certainly not going to add your name to the firm now – as I mentioned, Jessica and I have settled on Darby International, with the New York office specifically to be Darby Pearson – but you are welcome to your job back, and I do hope you will take it.”

“Of course I will,” Dana said, still quiet, as she walked now through midtown in the direction of her hotel. “I can be back in London tomorrow.”

“Don’t book a flight yet,” Edward advised. “I’ve asked Harvey which office he wants you to work in. Since I re-hired you on his orders, after all.”

“What did he say?” she whispered.

“He wasn’t sure,” Edward replied. “I imagine he’ll consult with that delightful secretary of his and she’ll sort out how he feels about things, and then he’ll let me know.”

Dana chuckled.

“That does tend to be his M.O.,” she agreed.

“Anyway, in the meantime – the firm will pay for your hotel until such time as Harvey gives me an answer, and I’m sure Linda will be happy to advise you from London if there is anything that requires your attention. Otherwise I’d suggest you enjoy the city. God knows you never take a holiday.”

“Americans don’t believe in, ‘holidays,’” Dana replied crisply, “at least not American women who want to make partner by thirty.”

“You make an excellent point. Nevertheless, you are free to do as you please until Mr. Specter and Ms. Paulsen come to a conclusion.”

“Thanks, Edward,” she said softly, and they hung up.

It was good news – it _really_ was. And yet…standing there, in her hotel room, staring at the California king bed and the whirlpool bathtub and thinking about how she was going to use them alone, it didn’t feel quite like a win.

She refused even to hope that Harvey would want her to stay in New York. Refused.

And yet, it still hurt when Edward called to tell her that he didn’t.

\--

Dana took a cab to the airport and checked her bags, breezing through security as she always did when she wasn’t running late. Looked as if she would have plenty of time to herself.

“Harvey told me to send you back to London.”

She wondered if she’d ever stop hearing Edward’s words, on loop, in her head. She’d lost, for good this time. He’d gotten her job back out of loyalty and then immediately sent her away.

At least it was only London. Could’ve been Hong Kong.

She was walking to her gate, and there he was, immediately putting her at a disadvantage – in her traveling clothes, while he looked perfect in his power suit. And still, somehow, like a dream come true.

But she couldn’t think about that now.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. How did you get through security?”

“Charm, and this smile,” he said, falling into step with her, and it was a great smile, but –

“You bought a ticket, didn’t you?”

“Trinidad-Tobago,” he confirmed, pulling it out of his left inside pocket. She glanced at it with suspicion.

“First class,” she noted. “You’re not even going.”

“I prefer to _not_ travel in style.”

“I would prefer to be alone right now,” Dana said with finality, pulling away from him, but Harvey caught her by the arm.

“Scottie…I need your help.”

“I’m sorry, I have a plane to catch. A plane, by the way, that _you_ put me on.”

“After I saved your job, which you accepted,” he countered. “So now we’re both working for the same firm.”

“Oh, I guess I’m just one of the many partners who works with you and yet wants nothing to do with you!” She turned away again, determinedly walking away from him, but in true Harvey Specter fashion, he wasn’t giving up that easily.

“Scottie, please,” he said, and she sighed. It wasn’t fair; he knew she was in love with him, knew how hard it was for her to turn him down when he begged, and now he would fucking _always_ have the upper hand. She kept walking. He did, too.

“You once helped me without me asking; well, now I’m asking.”

Dana sighed again. Might as well bite the bullet; she was almost at the gate. She stopped walking and turned around to face him.

“Then tell me something,” she said, exasperated.

“Something what?” he asked, looking her right in the face.

“Just…something,” she repeated, more softly, and she stepped in closer, close enough that she could almost feel his breathing. He looked at her for a long moment.

“I remember the first time I ever saw you,” he started, nostalgia creeping into his voice.

“Con law,” she agreed. “You threw me some line; I gave you shit about your hair.”

“No,” he said earnestly. “It was two weeks before that, outside Langdell. You were wearing a blue dress; the wind was blowing…when I saw your face, it stopped me dead in my tracks.”

Well, he’d read the playbook, at least, and knew that smart women like to hear that they’re pretty. Unfortunately for Harvey, Dana already knew perfectly well that she was pretty, and she shook her head.

“That’s not enough.”

“Well, I’m not finished,” he answered immediately. “The next time I saw you was con law. You answered the first question that Dyson asked, and I knew that that _face_ that blew me away was your _second_ -best asset.”

And pretty women like to hear that they’re smart, especially from the men that they love. She looked down, willing herself not to hurt.

“Look, you mean something to me. You’ve always meant something to me. And you always _will_ mean something to me.”

_God damn it Harvey, this is why I never told you to your face how I really felt._

“You’re such a dick,” she said quietly, shaking her head. “What do you need, Harvey.”

“Ava Hessington.”

She chuckled. Of course he did. One of the biggest, most convoluted, important-to-Edward clients around, and Harvey was tackling it just as soon as the merger went through.

“Well, this is gonna take awhile,” she said coolly. “So you’re gonna buy me a drink…” She reached into his pocket, and added with a smile, “and I’m gonna take that ticket to Trinidad-Tobago.”

She turned back towards the gate, knowing he would follow her even before she heard the sound of his familiar gait, even before she felt the warmth of his hand on the small of her back and turned around.

“Don’t worry about your flight; it’s delayed; I already checked,” he said softly. “We have four hours, and I’ll carry your bag.”

Dana raised her eyebrows slightly but handed him her satchel.

“What kind of drink do you want?” he asked as he began ushering her back towards the restaurants and bars. She considered.

“Gin,” she announced, “and something with lime. Ava Hessington is not going to go down easy, and I’m gonna need something sweet.”

Harvey nodded, and the hand at her back had shifted into an arm around her waist, and, shit, they were going to make a bad decision before she left.

They settled in at a mostly-empty bar, and Harvey ordered a gimlet for her and Macallan 18 for himself (surprise, surprise). He handed over his credit card to open the tab and then turned around to watch Dana fiddle with a cocktail napkin. She looked down, and then up into his face, and, well…now was as good a place as any.

“Hessington Oil was Edward’s first client,” she said softly, “and though Ava herself has only been at the helm for a relatively short time, Edward has known her since she was a little girl. He was…something of a second father to her.”

“So this is personal for him,” Harvey finished, and Dana laughed a little.

“I don’t work much with Hessington – they created a minor subsidiary a few years ago that I handled, but for the most part, Stephen Huntley and Edward himself manage things – so I don’t know for sure what he asked you to do, but, yes, anything involving Ava is personal for Edward.”

“She’s being charged with bribing the government of the EIR to get her pipeline constructed.”

Dana shrugged.

“I’m sure she did it; you’re just going to have to negotiate with the US Attorney’s office. It’s only bribery; ironically enough you can probably fix it with a fine.”

“ _I know_ that, Scottie, but first I’m going to have to sell her on me, and that’s why I need you to tell me anything shady she’s done over the years and how ‘Darby International’ has dealt with it.”

“What a surprise; it’s time to do your homework and you immediately try to copy the answers from me.”

“Call it private tutoring,” he said, throwing her a charming smile, and Dana chuckled.

“However you wanna spin it, Specter.” They grinned at each other for a few moments before she conceded.

“Edward picked a dumb name, didn’t he?”

Harvey burst into laughter.

“Oh, yeah. And to think I once thought, ‘DLA Piper,’ was bad.”

“It still is; ‘Darby International,’ is just worse.”

They both laughed this time, but Harvey cleared his throat just before Dana could allow herself to be lulled into thinking it was a date.

“So. Hessington Oil.”

Dana nodded.

“Like I said, I don’t do much work for them personally, but I do have a pretty good relationship with a couple of the associates and corporate paralegals who do.” She pulled out her phone and shot off a quick email, Harvey peering over her shoulder:

_Good afternoon,_

_I need some background information on Hessington Oil as well as on Ava Hessington personally. Please provide any key regulatory trouble the company has encountered (particularly in regards to pipeline construction/maintenance) as soon as possible, copying Harvey Specter in New York (specterh@pearson-darby.com, already copied on this message)._

_Thanks for your prompt attention,_

_DJS_

She looked up from her phone to Harvey’s bemused expression.

“And _I’m_ the one getting someone else to do my homework?”

“Supporting the partners on client-related work is literally what we hire associates and paralegals to do,” she pointed out. “But since apparently you need something coming off the top of my head, from my own brain, there’s definitely an environmental impact study that was…massaged, shall we say, I think not long after I made partner. Not to mention a not-technically-illegal-but-it-was-totally-a-bribe payoff a couple of years ago, to someone who was about to go public.”

Harvey’s eyebrows rose almost comically, and Dana bit back a laugh and shrugged.

“She’s a high-powered oil executive; these are the things that happen. I don’t think she’s worse than anyone else, but it’s not exactly a clean business.” She sipped on her drink and thought for a moment.

“She’s a straight shooter, though. She works hard and she gets the job done and she pays her bills on time. Edward could _easily_ have given you worse.”

“Good to know,” Harvey said thoughtfully, taking a sip from his own drink and staring off into space for a moment before focusing his eyes on Dana so intimately she suddenly felt naked.

“Harvey…” she said slowly, meeting his gaze. “Is there something else you’re not telling me? Something you need…something you want?”

He drained his scotch and kissed her, just long enough and just hard enough that she could taste the whisky on his lips when he pulled away.

“You, Scottie,” he answered simply. “I know it’s not fair, but I still want you more than I – ”

She put a finger to his lips and stopped him.

“No, it’s not fair, but I want you, too. Look…pay the bill and we can…we can say goodbye.”

\--

Count on Harvey to find the single-stall, gender-neutral bathroom that Dana had been fairly certain didn’t exist but that guaranteed that they wouldn’t have an audience and would only be _bending_ the law when they went in together, barely waiting for the door to close before their lips met.

It was strange, how suddenly awkward and meaningful it was to be kissing Harvey now, when they’d been together so many times she’d lost track of all counts, but like it or not things had changed between them, and the hot, wet feel of his mouth on hers meant everything and nothing. He moaned, softly – she felt it more than heard it – as she opened her mouth to his tongue and tightened her arms around his neck.

“Wait – Harvey,” she gasped, pulling away from him in a sudden panic.

“What?” he replied, eyes hazy, not even attempting to look as if he were back in control of his body.

“I – we – I can’t keep doing this, Harvey. You don’t want…and that’s fine, that’s fair, but I can’t keep sleeping with you, not when I…this has to be the last time.”

He nodded.

“Okay. After today…we’re coworkers. Partners.”

“Friends,” she said softly, pushing his jacket off his shoulders and carefully hanging it up on one of several hooks on the stall door. He looked at her, clearly conflicted between taking off the rest of his clothes and kissing her some more, and she smiled and turned around, lifting her hair out of the way.

“Can you get my zipper, please?” He nodded and carefully removed her top while she pulled off her pants, and then she turned in his arms and started in on his.

“Where should we – ?” he asked distractedly, gesturing to the clothing he was obviously reluctant to drop on the floor. Dana responded by draping them over the stall door, doing what she could to preserve the creases in his trousers that Harvey was so picky about.

Then they were looking at each other again, and then they were kissing, and Harvey was backing her into the wall, pressing his body into hers. Up close she could feel even without looking that he was hardening but not quite there yet, so she reached down between their bodies and took his cock in her hand, enjoying the way his eyes rolled back, before closing, when she started to jack him.

“Fuck,” he said softly, and it was barely more than a puff of warm air on her lips but it went straight through her, her entire body buzzing with anticipation as she stroked Harvey’s dick.

“I want you inside me, Harvey,” she said, equally quiet, punctuating her words with a squeeze. He let out a helpless moan and nodded, slipping his hands under her thighs, and she tightened hers on his shoulders and hoisted herself up so that her legs were wrapped around his waist. They fumbled for a moment, trying to figure out which of their four assorted hands was least important to maintaining their precarious position, and then how to align their bodies so that it would work, but they were smart people, high on needing each other, and then it was done, and Dana closed her eyes at how perfect it felt to have him in her.

He was breathing heavily and grinding, not thrusting, and she knew instinctively that that was both for her pleasure and to draw things out, and a wave of affection that almost made her head spin washed over her, because the position was strenuous and hard on his body and yet he wanted it to last, wanted to linger with her for now if not for ever. And maybe she was fighting for scraps now, but that – well, that was something. So she clung to him and kissed his neck and sucked on his earlobe like she knew he liked and let out a throaty moan when he found just the right angle.

He kept at it with almost perfect precision, and she clung to him, luxuriating in the feel of him inside her and all around her, this man she’d loved for too long and was losing, and then she was coming, her thighs clenching his hips and her head hitting the wall with a little more force than was strictly comfortable, but it felt so good that she didn’t even care. Then she shifted, slightly, to avoid overstimulation, and he looked at her, waiting for her okay before he started up again. He was flushed from the exertion, panting harshly, drenched with sweat, and she felt a little guilty about how hard he was having to work for his orgasm.

“Is this…” she started shakily, finding her breath, “is this working for you, or do you want to change positions?” Harvey paused, still breathing hard, and she kept her smile in check as she watched his pride struggle with his comfort.

“Maybe…from behind…?” he suggested, eyes closing suddenly when Dana squeezed him inside her. She nodded.

“Okay,” she agreed, scanning the room for something suitable. “Changing table looks like a good height; I’ll bend over that.” She gave him another squeeze before he pulled out and carefully let her down so that she could cross the room and brace herself on the plastic changing station on the other wall. A look over her shoulder and there he was, his hands on her hips, his face filled with tension, his dick shiny with her wetness. She nodded and he pushed in with a long groan. He took a couple of slow, tentative thrusts to start, and they felt _amazing_ , but at this point Dana knew what he really wanted.

“Go ahead, Harvey,” she said softly, looking over her shoulder at him again. “Take what you need; it’s okay.” Within seconds he was plowing her, so hard she had to cling tighter to the table to keep from losing her balance, but it was fine, it was good, when the desperate and helpless sounds he was making were going to have to last her the rest of her life. She bent over further and stood up straighter, testing the various angles until she found the right one and his breath caught in his throat and he was moving harder and faster. She turned her neck so she could see his face, distorted in beautiful agony, and watched him, wanting him to come while simultaneously wishing the moment could last forever.

It couldn’t, of course, and seconds later Harvey’s breath was stuttering and he was burying his face in her neck, holding onto her hips to steady himself as he reflexively buried his cock inside her. They stayed like that for a few long moments, overheated and slippery and bent over a _changing table_ in an _airport bathroom_ as they came down, Dana unable to focus on anything but the feel of Harvey’s heart beating fiercely against her back. When he finally slipped out and pulled away from her she was sure she’d never felt quite so empty.

She turned around to face him, taking in every inch of his face in what was likely to be the last time she’d ever see him like this, and impulsively rose higher on her toes to kiss him on the mouth. Immediately his arms wound around her waist, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. And she loved him so much and it was almost perfect but she still knew it couldn’t last, and she drew back, still looking at him, and nodded slightly.

“‘Well, here I am, now what were your other two wishes?’” she said softly. Harvey let out a chuckle that was mostly breath.

“What’s that?”

“It’s the first thing you ever said to me,” she answered with a wistful smile. “And don’t get me wrong; I thought you were a giant douche…but I also thought you were the best-looking man who’d ever hit on me.” She shook her head a little, adding wryly, “and that counts for a lot when you’re twenty-two. Look, what I’m saying is…you mean something to me, too, Harvey, and you always will.”

“I’m glad,” he said simply. “And, Scottie – thanks for your help.”

She nodded.

“You’re welcome.”

They moved quietly around the bathroom, making full use of paper towels and the contents of Dana’s makeup bag (the comb held a particular allure for Harvey) before finally deciding they were presentable enough for the outside world. He picked up both her bags this time, without asking, and put an arm around her as they began the walk toward her gate.

There was so much she wanted to say to him; so much she needed to hear; so much she wanted him to know – but somehow the silence was enough, and when he dropped her off in the waiting area next to her gate, handing her her handbag and laying her satchel at her feet before bending to kiss her on the forehead and wishing her a safe flight – somehow she knew they’d said all they needed to say, and they knew all they needed to know, and although things weren’t the same between them anymore, they were still, somehow, exactly as they had always been.


End file.
